There are some planned changes to our trout stocking routine as we scale back after July 4on our lower elevation streams, which have already received all or most of their annual trout allocations. Go higher up the mountain to have better success with stockers.

The biggest change may be north Georgia’s declining rainfall and dropping river levels, which are expected this time of year. These conditions are often better for float fishers, since they mean more days of clear water and easily boatable and wadeable river flows. To that end, how about a recipe for some fine summer fishing fun? We often simply tether our yaks to our waists and wade-fish downstream until we’re shoulder-deep, then hop in the boat to float to the next wadeable spot. Try it – you’ll like it!

It’s going to be very hard to beat the two tailwaters, Buford and Blue Ridge. Try for an early start to beat the high summer sun. Although the water will stay cold all day, the hot summer afternoons can be uncomfortable to anglers unless they take a dunking or two.

For mountain stream stockers this weekend, try: Rock, Cooper, Dicks, Boggs, Wildcat, Tallulah, and Hooch high in the WMA.